Molding of Destinies Book 1
by slightlyevolved
Summary: NEW! Updated Chapter 5. WIP Book 1 of 16. Follow Crono as he grows up, saves the world. Written from his POV this ambitious project will do the same for all 7 heroes. New, check out my forum at forum.movequick.net
1. A Hero's Start

_Author's note._

Thank you for making room in your schedule to spend time reading my first fic. I really do appreciate it. This is going to be quite an ambitious project as I am planning on there being around 16 "books" at the time of completion. Since I hold down two jobs, updates are going to be a little on the slow side. Therefore, I believe that a description of this series is in order. Feel free to skip and go right into the story if you wish, I'll wait here incase you get confused.

There will be a book written for each of the main characters from Chrono Trigger as well as a book for Surge and Kid from Chrono Cross. The first seven books will only tell a complete story if read together, the remaining plot holes are to be filled in with the middle series of books. Two books in the middle Ð starting with book 8 - will deal with the defeat of Lavos and the later quests in the game. These two books are going to focus on the whole team and story instead of just bits. It will fill in the blanks and plot holes left by telling only part of the story in the first seven and will make sure that they are all tied together well.

The next four or five books will deal with the twenty years between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. They will be similar to the first seven, but written with a focus on separate groups of the heroes instead of each one individually. I think I have some neat ideas for this segment. The final two books are going to be just like the first seven, but focused on Surge and Kid from Chrono Cross.

As I said, I think it is a bit of an ambitious project, but one that I have really wanted to do for a while. I wanted to do a written version of the game, but saw that this has pretty much been done to death. I'm hoping that while this is yet-another-Chrono-Trigger-game-novel, it will prove to be a unique aspect. In that vein, I work well if I have input from more than just myself and excel at taking a raw idea and polishing it quite nicely. Sometimes originality comes from a team effort.

So, have an idea about where you think the plot should go? Could a scene use a better rewrite and you think you have a great way to do it? Wonderful! I set up an extra email account just for you! Seriously, if you have an idea that you think would benefit the story, I'm a very receptive person. Drop me a line and I will take a look. NO FLAMING!!! If you do not like the story, then give me a bad review. It's more productive that way, I'll know you hate it and so will the other 10 people that read this ;)

I started this project to help brush up on my writing skills. It has been years since I've written anything and have noticed a significant drop in my writing skills, especially grammar and spelling. As such, be brutal. Let me know if my grammar sucks and if you find spelling errors. I do take care to proofread, spell-check, and grammar check my writing, but something is bound to slip through.

I hope that you enjoy it.

Sincerely,

Rob Lyons

moldingofdestinies@insightbb.com

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Chapter 1

A Hero's Start

It was the middle of June and even for two a.m. the night was chill, but comfortable. A gibbous moon shone overhead giving out a fair amount of light to the land. It highlighted the trees, and cast the ground surrounding them into shadow. Only the occasional whoosh of wings against the treetops broke the eerie silence in the city of Truce. Throughout history, many a summer night had existed exactly like this. Mother nature at peace as the world sleeps...

Suddenly, a scream rent through the air shattering the delicate balance throwing birds, bats, and any other number of winged creatures into the air. Surrounding one small two-story house, the veil of night lifted as light spewed out onto the street from a number of its windows. The moonlight seemed to retreat into the shadows as if it was angry that its beautiful influence was replaced by this harsh yellow glow.

An auburn haired man in his mid-twenties, wearing nothing but a light jacket, sweatpants, and sandals, bolted out the front door. Another scream from inside the house followed him out into the night air. He ran two blocks down the street towards the middle of town and proceeded to bang at the front door of a doctor's office as if his very being was in peril. Within a few minutes a fully clothed, grey haired man appeared at the door and beckoned the distraught younger into his house.

"I assume that it has started," stated the older man, "or are you just seeing to it that I don't get any sleep tonight?"

"Edward, how can you joke like that during a time like this?!" replied the younger man, a hint of worry in his voice. He could not understand why Edward was taking so long. How much stuff was he going to put into that black bag of his?

Shrugging off the somewhat distraught man he replied, "Simple, Michael. I will not have anything to do for at _least_ another half hour, and let me tell you from experience that giving birth to a child rarely ever takes the minimum amount of time. Babies just are not that good with time management so we don't have to rush everything. Go back to Gina and make sure that she is comfortable. I'll be along in a few minutes as soon as I have everything that I need packed up."

Michael nodded his head in agreement and ran out the door. Edward stood in the doorway and watched his retreating silhouette for a few moments before turning back to his bag. He made one last check on the items that he would need and headed out the door.

Even if Edward had not known where Michael and Gina's house was, he wouldn't have had much trouble finding it; all he needed to do was follow the screams that were destroying the night calm. He gave a small sigh as he realized that if the yelling was any indication, this was going to be a very hard, very long, night.

_"Poor Gina."_ He thought to himself, a thin smile creeping across his face. "_Although, I think I should be more worried about Michael, after this is over with, he'll be lucky if she ever lets him near her again."_

He was right; twelve hours later; Michael was completely befuddled. He never knew that his beautiful wife could use such words, or threaten his continued existence with such skill. He made a vow to himself to never get on his wife's bad side, seeing her like that once was more than enough in one lifetime. Therefore, he simply sat there, a silent observer as Gina slowly fell asleep with their newborn child in her arms. The child was very quiet, barely a whimper escaped from him during the whole ordeal. Despite that fact, Edward pronounced him a perfectly healthy, if somewhat stoical, baby boy.

"Hmmm, Michael, you want to know a little bit of trivia?" Edward asked.

"What's that?"

"It was this exact time 8 months ago when I diagnosed Gina as pregnant. Your child came out exactly on time. I'm talking about to the hour, minute, second, on time."

Disinterested in what he had to say, he replied, "Really? Talk about coincidences, eh." He was still in awe of the little bundle that had nestled itself into his life.

"I would certainly say so. I don't think I've ever seen such timeliness in my forty years as a physician... Have you two decided on a name yet?"

Sighing, as he stared at his son, "No, neither of us could really come up with one. I suppose that we both needed to see him before we could make up our minds."

"Well, if you need some help I've got this book of-"

"Wait! You said he came out exactly on time, right?"

"-Huh..Uh...Yea." Getting his last thought cut off, Edward took a moment to catch up. "Yes, right on the minute. Why?

"ChronoÉ" Michael softly said to himself then turned to Edward. "Since he was right on time, we'll name him after timeÉChrono."

"It does seem rather fitting. You should probably ask Gina first though. It's a big decision and I don't think you'll want to anger her any further." He added with a smirk.

Slowly Michael got up, went to his now sleeping wife and brushed a sweaty blonde-brunette strand of hair to the side. He slightly shook her shoulder, "Gina...Gina...Wake up for a second."

She sleepily opened her eyes and looked at her husband. "Gina, I think I have a good name for our son. What do you think of Chrono?"

"Chrono? Chrono, I like it. Yes, our little Chrono...C...r...o...n...o" She spelled out the name to herself, playing it over her tongue as sleep once again took hold of her worn out body.

Michael smiled as he lifted the baby from her arms and held him. "Since she agrees, Chrono, no Crono, it is." 

He looked into the boy's vivid green eyes for a few moments. "Hello Crono. It's a big world, I'll have a lot to show you."


	2. Dinner, Friends, and Accidents

_Chapter 2_

_Friends, Dinner, and Accidents_

The city of Truce had not changed much; it still is the largest city on the northern island in Guardia kingdom. King Guardia the Thirty-third lives in his castle on the other side of Guardia Forest west of town and the ferry travels to the south island twice a day, allowing easy movement between Truce and the next largest city, Porre. A magic using race of beings called Mystics still hate humans and hold a grudge over their defeat in the war nearly 400 years ago. Taban, that weird inventor guy, moved to a small island just south of town, you could still hear an occasional explosion. Most people are relived about that change though.

Life continues with a few bumps along the road to make it interesting. For Gina and Michael, that bump came along three years ago; their world never really has gone back the way that it was, and neither of them would want it to.

As the sun sank behind him and the shoreline of home came into view over the western horizon of water, Michael stood on deck and stared at the multicolored crimson and dark blue hues of the sky. Michael had plenty of time to think about how his life had changed in the last three years. Changed it had; he was now a father of a very active three year old and the husband of a very worn out Gina. He would have chuckled at the thought of poor Gina and how she must be after taking care of Crono by herself, but the thought of the glare he was going to be receiving quashed that thought.

'Damn slow ferry.' He mused, 'I would have really liked to get home before Gina gives up on me and marries someone else. Heck, at this rate Crono will probably have a better beard than I will! Of all the days for the engine to have a breakdown, it would be when I was so anxious to get home and see my family. Now I'm three hours late and the sun is setting. Good thing that I'm almost there, I may still be able to get through the evening with my head intact."

He had spent the last week on his semi-annual trip to the east islands. He was lucky to be the only blacksmith in the kingdom taught by the renowned sword smith Melchior. The extra teachings of Melchior helped to make Michael's shop a well-known place; although his work was not nearly as refined as Melchior's, it was still well above average. Besides, he had a special agreement with the old man, twice a year Michael would travel to Medina Ð avoiding the human detesting Mystics Ð and bring back some of Melchior's incredible swords to sell in his shop. The trip was rather arduous and made him wonder what went on in Melchoir's head to have made him move four days away from another human, across water and next door to beings that would like nothing more than to put all of humanity's heads on a pike. It was a win-win proposition though, Melchior got extra sales, and Michael would get a portion to help pay the bills. It was sufficient to say that because of Melchior his family was quite comfortable. Michael wouldn't go so far as to say that they were rich, but they had no trouble paying for the house and still had enough leftover to spoil their-selves a little.

So involved in his own thoughts, he did not notice the ferry coming into port until the sudden lurch of the ship stopping almost sent him spiraling over the guardrail. Quick reflexes and luck saved him from a premature bath in a very cold bay.

Within ten minutes, bags in hand he was hurriedly heading towards the center of town to sit in front of the fireplace with his wife and child. A smile continued to get wider as he neared his destination, by the time he reached the door his face was positively beaming.

"Hey! There's the man of the house!" He bellowed has he opened the door to find Crono sitting on the living room floor. Sweeping the giggling child into his arms, he rustled the child's unruly red hair and asked, "So, how has Crono been? Have you been taking good care of mommy?"

"Oooohhhh, He's been taking _very_ good care of mommy. Running up and down the stairs, tripping up Mr. Robinson, and just making plain sure that mommy gets enough exercise for the next twenty years!" Gina replied. Her sarcasm dripping tone and the evil glint in her eyes were betrayed by the smile that she was trying to keep hidden.

Satisfied that his head was most defiantly going to stay attached to his shoulders, he reached over, pulled Gina into a group hug, and kissed her on the forehead. Crono smiled with delight at seeing his father again.

"As great as it is to see you both, I really need to take a shower. Can you take Crono for a few minutes while I get cleaned up?"

Gina took Crono into her arms and narrowed her eyes playfully, "Sure, just leave him with me, but you'll have to pay for such service. My work is exceptional after all!"

"Whatever you want, it shall be done, my lady."

"Taban and Lara are bringing their daughter over for dinner tonight."

"Except that... Why! I just got home, and you know I don't like playing host, especially with Taban. I don't hate him or anything, and I know he's a fine man and all, but he is always asking questions about Melchior's swords. It just gets irritating after the first two hours!"

"Oh! Stop acting like a spoiled little kid! I know you don't like to do this, but Lara is my best friend. And besides, I think Crono and Lucca would get a long well together. You know they are probably the two most intelligent toddlers in the city. Crono is more agile than most six year olds and Lucca could probably talk circles around the king's Chancellor."

"From what I've heard, a muskrat could talk circles around the Chancellor, " He recoiled slightly at the look in Gina's eyes. "I get your point." He sighed. "Only I was looking forward to a nice quiet evening with you two, the fireplace, and my chair."

"Oh come on, despite your belly aching, you know that you'll have fun tonight. I'd bet good money that you would manage to have fun if your head was stuck in a toilet."

"Okay. As usual, you are right. When are they due here?"

Gina looked at the grandfather clock in the corner before replying, "You have about twenty minutes to make yourself look presentable." Michael nodded his head in affirmation and walked through he door on the right wall and into the bathroom off of the main bedroom.

The warm water felt wonderful on his tired body. The last leg of his trip had taken its toll on him. He had not done anything physically tiring, but the stress caused by the ferry delay took its toll on his mental stamina. As his body and mind relaxed further into an almost sleeping state, all concept of time was lost. Michael was surprised to hear a knock at the door while he was still drying off.

_"Shit, they're here!"_

He hurriedly finished toweling off his lower body and threw on some clean clothes. In such a hurry, he had forgotten to dry his hair, which was now clinging in a giant soggy mess to his back and dripping water into his eyes. He hurried out the bedroom door and into the living room. His squinting eyes were not able to see what had positioned itself directly in his path. The sudden meow of a very disgruntled cat caused Michael to lose his balance as he tumbled headlong into the middle of the room, right where Lucca was sitting.

"Michael! Lucca!" Gina screamed from the kitchen as she started to run towards Lucca, who confused by all the sudden yelling, stayed where she was and looked around.

Seeing where he was going to land and quite certain that Lucca would be hurt if he fell on her at the speed he was going, Michael vainly tried to change his path. Just as he was about to land on the poor girl, Crono bolted across the room and pushed Lucca out of the way before he jumped clear of his flailing father who smashed headlong into the hardwood floor. His skin made a sickening squeal against the wood floor as friction slowed him down to a halt.

Michael slowly got up off the floor and cradled the sore patch of skin on his arm as he walked over to where Gina, Lara, and Taban were checking to see if Lucca was all right. Lucca just stared at the boy who had prevented bodily harm from coming to her as her parents checked her for any bumps on the head. Crono, since the crisis was over, went back to playing with his blocks on the couch, oblivious that he had done something very special for a three-year-old child.

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I would like to thank Xyn for the review of my first chapter. I took what you said to heart and tried to lighten up the descriptive sentences a bit. I took a second (or eighth) look at the first chapter and saw what you meant. I will probably re-edit that sometime in the next few weeks. Thanks for the input, and as I have said before, let me know if you see a way to improve this story. As I develop as a writer, so too will my characters develop into better people.

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	3. Making Friends 101

_ Chapter 3_

_Making Friends 101_

He circled his enemy; a careful eye took in every detail available. It worked to the best of its ability to fulfill its master's wish of finding a weak point in the monster. With nothing more than a slight grunt, Michael suddenly ran and made a flying leap into the air.

SHH-THWACK!

The satisfying sound of metal slicing through wood and straw told he all needed to know. He already knew that the hit would be flawless, but it was all part of the game. In a real battle, your enemies are not made of straw and hung on a pole. You can never be sure of a perfect hit. Listening for the sound of a blade penetrating is your best defense against being caught off guard. The last thing you would want is to think you have won the battle while your 'dead' enemy gets up and stabs you in the back.

Michael turned around to survey the damage done to his training dummy. The best description he could find was utter destruction. Melchior's new Swallow was defiantly one of his better works. He had the disturbing thought that if this is just one of his good swords, he would really hate to be on the receiving end of one of his best ones.

He looked down at the slate-blue blade, "I see Melchior hasn't lost his touch one bit."

"You know, it really isn't healthy to talk to yourself like that. I doubt the sword really wishes to have a conversation with you either."

He whirled around and saw Gina walking towards him with Crono following behind. Even though he had been doing it for months, it still amazed Michael every time he saw Crono walking. Walking for a three year old isn't odd, but Crono had a certain poise and stability about his movements that most other young children lacked. It had occurred to him that Crono would be a great swordsman one day.

"Especially after that incident with Lucca last night." He thought. "It was completely instinctual, I don't think he even realized what he had done." 

"And how do you know that? At least the sword listens to me and doesn't give me grief all of the time. I'm a great conversationalist!"

"I would laugh at the thought of you trying to actually converse, but I don't want Crono to get an even worse perception of his father."

Michael fell onto the ground "Oh! OW! My aching heart! It feels as if its been torn out of my chest! My family has forsaken me! I'm...dying."

Gina walked over and nudged her now immobile husband with her foot. He responded by letting his tongue loll out of his mouth.

"Fine example you set for your child. With a role model like you, I'll be the one with a heart attack! The last things I need in my life are for both of you to end up acting the same way!" She turned to her son, "Crono, when Daddy wakes up, tell him I ate all of the food and he'll have to fend for himself." She smiled at him and turned to walk off.

Crono looked down at his dad and saw a wink. He looked back up at his mother's retreating back, put his hand to his stomach, then ran off to get some lunch before his mother made good on her promise. Since everyone had decided to desert him, Michael sat up, grabbed the Swallow, and followed the other two into the house. When it came to inanimate objects speaking to him, his stomach was always the loudest.

"Hey, what are we having for lunch anyway?" He asked as he walked through the back door and stored the Swallow safely in a locked cabinet.

"Well, well, well, so you decided to rejoin the living. We're hav-" Her reply was interrupted by a knock at the front door. "Honey, go see who that is. I need to finish making these sandwiches."

Michael got up and opened the thick oak front door. He was quite surprised to see Taban and Lucca standing on the other side. Out of any visitor, he had least expected to see the person that almost ended up being his personal pancake and the aforementioned person's father.

_"I hope that he hasn't come here to yell at me. That would really ruin my day."_

"Uh... Hi Taban, Lucca." He backed away from the door, "It's nice to see you, come on in."

"Thank you Michael."

"We, eh, were about to have lunch, would you two like to join us."

"Thank's for the offer, but we aren't going to be here long. Actually, we came here to talk to Crono, or rather Lucca here wanted to talk to him." Taban leaned towards Michael and added out of the side of his mouth, "I think she wanted to thank him for pushing her out of the way last night."

"Sure. Crono, come in here for a minute!" He turned back to Taban and in a lowered tone, "Hey... a, um. Look Taban, I want to say that I'm really sorry about that. I should have been watching where I was going."

"Don't worry about it. Seriously, I of all people know that accidents happen. I'm quite sure someone in town has been keeping a running count of the number of explosions at my place. In all actuality, I'm surprised Lucca hasn't had her eyebrows singed off. I guess it's a good thing that she takes after her mother and leaves the machine work up to me."

"Still, I feel pretty bad about it." Michael always hated this part, he and Taban got along, but didn't have much I common. Outside of idle chit-chat, their conversations were mostly made up of awkward silences. "Sooo...Lucca really isn't interested in your machines? As intelligent as she is I would have figured that she would want to be right in the midst of it."

Crono swallowed the last of his sandwich as he walked up to the three. He looked over each person in turn and calmly waited. His father and the other man were talking in hushed tones and the maroon haired girl from last night kept looking between him and her shuffling feet. He gave her a mildly quizzical look has he tried to figure out why she was so nervous.

Michael noticed Crono and looked down at him, "Crono, this is Taban, a friend of your mother's, and Lucca's father. I think you remember them from last night. Um, Lucca wanted to say something, I think..."

Taban gave Lucca a push forward and whispered, "Go ahead, I'm fairly sure he isn't going to bite you. Besides, you are the one that wanted to come out here."

She continued to shuffle her feet and started to talk to the ground. "I...uhh. I wanted to thank you for pushing me out of the way last night." She looked up at Crono as he gave her a smile and nodded his head.

Crono didn't really understand why they were making such a fuss about everything. Why would no one have done that? She would have been hurt badly if he had not. It made sense.

"Well, thanks for your time Michael, I best take Lucca back home and let you go back to your lunch." Taban started to direct Lucca to the door but was stopped by her small voice.

"Wait dad." She looked back at Crono and pulled something white from one of her pockets. She held the object out to Crono, "Here, I would like you to have this, it's a thank you present."

Crono took the piece of fabric and looked at it. Lucca looked a little disappointed when Crono didn't do anything but stare at it. He was unsure what is was and looked up to his father. His father was still wearing a white headband from his workout, and it suddenly hit Crono what the white thing was for. He took the fabric in both of his hands, pulled it tight around his head, and tied it in a knot in the back.

Crono was thrilled to receive this gift, it was obvious that giving it to him meant a lot to her. He looked back up at her and smiled, "Thanks."

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Thank you for the reviews. I am very pleased to see that everyone is enjoying the story.

Xyn: I am glad that you like Michael. He is my first stab at an original character, well; actually, this whole thing is a first stab... I'm rather worried about what I'm going to do to him as well, I have an idea on what is going to happen, but I'm really starting to like him, a lot. In answer to your question, yes, I did get the name from the OC remix. It is one of my favorites and I thought that it was a rather fitting title.


	4. Secrets Between Friends

_Chapter 4_

_Secrets Between Friends_

Even though he had to get up early, Crono was very excited today. Within the hour, Taban was going to bring Lucca over. She had quickly become his best friend over the course of the last four years and it had been a few weeks since he was last able to see her. To say that he missed her a lot was an understatement. He had overheard his parents saying something about an accident and Taban was going to take Lara on a vacation to help her cope. He was happy that Lucca was going to stay with Crono's family for the week. He was curious as to what happened, but figured that it could not be all bad since he was going to have his best friend around for a whole week.

Despite their differences in personality, both children got along exceptionally well. Crono was very bright, but lagged behind the brilliant Lucca. They were for the most part, just like any other kids, but put them together and they complimented each other in such a fashion as to make their physical age pointless. Together these were not mere six-year-olds. She could out argue someone three times her age, and Crono could physically outpace a ten-year-old.

That was the second reason why Crono was so excited about today; he and Lucca were going to be spending the whole day at his father's shop. It was time for him to learn about swords. His father said that after Crono had learned about the different types and what made a sword good, he was going to teach him how to use one. He'd been waiting for his father to say this for the last two years. Lucca probably was not that interested in the swords, but being a curious person, she would most likely want to know about the history and creation of them. Crono never could figure out half the stuff that Lucca did, he wanted to learn how to use something, while she wanted to know how it would do whatever it was that it did.

As usual, Crono was practically drooling over breakfast. It was not so much that his mom was a great cook - although that was true - he just liked food. Only his parents and Lucca had ever seen him eat like this though. Despite being a very warm and caring child, he kept other people at a distance; to the outside world, he was a very polite and quiet boy. Today was even worse than usual, he was excited and wanted to get going as soon as possible. The bacon and eggs did not even have a chance.

Gina was not even sure if they made contact with the plate before being swept into Crono's waiting mouth. She could not see how such a small child could fit so much into his mouth and still be able to chew. She had learned to live with it though. At first she was always worried that he would choke, but after a while she found out that despite his hasty and somewhat 'rough' actions; he knew exactly what his capabilities were.

"You know you don't have to inhale your food so quickly." Gina sighed, "Geez, you're eating even faster than normal. Eating like a ravenous wolf is not going to get you there any quicker. We have to wait for Lucca to get here and your father is not ready either." Crono started to attempt a response, "And don't even think about talking to me with your mouth full! I have better things to do than see you spit partially chewed food across the table!"

"Or-ee." was his final response and he tried to resume chewing. He managed to swallow his breakfast and chugged his glass of milk. He stood up from the table and took his dishes to the sink, giving them to his mother, "I'm all done. Would it be okay if I go outside and see the sunrise?"

"I don't see why not, just get back here right after it comes up, Lucca should be here by then."

Crono turned on his heel and went out the back door. Unknown to his mother, he did not intend to see the sunrise. It wasn't that he objected to such things; Lucca had taught him to see the beauty in nature during the walks he accompanied her on. This time he just wanted a good reason to go out and practice. Neither of his parents knew that he had traded an older boy some of his allowance for a wooden training sword. It was not a very good one, and he had to keep it hidden in some bushes on the side of the house, but he would not need it for much longer.

He walked around to the east side of his house and dug around in the bushes until he found it. Crono thought it was a very good hiding spot. The bushes were thick and next to an open area of the yard. When he knew that his parents were going to be inside for a while, he would come here to practice his sword skills. It was ideal, since the sun came up on this side of the house, there were no windows and tall bushes covered the remaining sides of the yard, so he didn't need to worry about anyone seeing him.

Crono looked up and saw the sky was already turning a mild grey color. He knew that he would only have about fifteen minutes but it would give him time to get in a few good swings.

He prepared his battle stance, trying to find a proper combination of balance and responsiveness. He found that holding his sword slightly downwards and to the left at arm's length with both hands gave him a good position. Although it seemed to leave his chest open, he had found that he gained great maneuverability to parry whatever his opponent's first attack was going to be. He positioned his feet slightly wider than his shoulders with his right foot slightly behind him. He stared intently ahead of him and drew back placing more of his weight on his right foot.

"Hrruugh." He swung his weight forward and brought his sword into a horizontal position. He pushed his arms outward and thrust the sword forward with his upper torso. 

"Yea-arrr-oof!" His thought of victory disturbed as he followed the movement by throwing the sword away from him as he fell forward onto his face.

Thrusting his sword forward had proven to be rather tough. Every time he tried to imitate the movements of his father, he tripped over his own feet. He still could not manage to find his center and usually would get off balance too easily.

He looked down at his tan pants and saw the tell tale green streaks on his knees. _"It's a good thing that mom hasn't noticed that not all my clothes have been in the laundry."_ He thought. Crono ended up doing much of his own laundry in an attempt to hide any evidence of what his mother would think was odd behavior.

Looking up, Crono saw that the sun had fully risen. He quickly stashed his sword and made his way to the back of the house. Peeking into the kitchen window, he made sure his mom would not see as he scaled an ivy-covered lattice positioned just outside his bedroom window above the kitchen.

While climbing Crono came up with a backup excuse to tell his mother_, "I had better get inside and change clothes before mom sees this mess. It's a good thing that she is always so busy in the morning, I can make it look as if I've been up in my room for a while and she didn't notice me come back inside. I'm glad that these weren't my last clean pair."_

He hopped through the window, pulled off his pants, and stashed them under his bed. He pulled a new identical pair from a drawer in his closet, hurriedly put them on, then casually walked downstairs to wait for the guests to arrive. Fortunately, he didn't have long to wait; within a few minutes, there was a knock at the door.

Before Gina had a chance to respond, Crono practically ran to the door and threw it open. "Hi Crono, I see you actually woke up. I expected you to still be asleep for a few more hours." He gave her a scowl; coming from Lucca this was a positively warm hello. Sarcasm suited her well, probably why his father got along with her so well too.

Every time Gina would look at the three of them, she would just huff and roll her eyes. They knew that she was just kidding and that she really found it funny that all of them were so much alike.

"Hey Crono. How've you been?" added Taban as Crono sidestepped and he walked through the doorway.

Crono shrugged as he closed the door, "Fine. Dad should be out soon, he's almost ready."

With his usual timing, Michael emerged from the bedroom. "Taban. It's good to see you again. I take it everything is in good order?"

"Yep. I've got some of her stuff right here and if you need anything else here's a spare key. Barring any problems, we should be back in town Thursday and we'll come pick Lucca up on Friday. I really do appreciate this, I think that this getaway will help Lara a lot."

"Crono, why don't you take Lucca up to your room and get her settled in." Crono motioned to Lucca and they both dragged her bag up the stairs. Michael turned back, "Come in and have some coffee before you go."

Michael poured some coffee for the two of them as they sat down with Gina at the kitchen table. "I didn't want to say anything in front of Lucca, but how has Lara been? I was surprised that she is ready to leave so soon after getting out of the hospital. This couldn't have been easy her, or any of you for that matter."

Upstairs Crono and Lucca had managed to get the bag onto his bed. Well, actually it was gong to be her bed for a week. Crono now laid claim to the couch downstairs. Tired from dragging the heavy suitcase upstairs, Lucca plopped down on the bed while Crono retrieved his chair from the desk near the window.

"Hey Crono, something is different." She snapped her fingers, "Your bandana! I think this is the first time since I gave it to you that I haven't seen you wear it."

"Wha!" He felt around on his forehead, moaning, "I had it on earlier! Oh, man. I bet if fell off outside. Wait here, I'll be back in a minute."

He ran to the door and sneaked part way down the stairs. Crono hung his upper body over the stair railing and glanced into the kitchen. _"Good, looks like they are in the middle of a serious conversation. I shouldn't have any problem getting by without them knowing."_ He murmured to himself.

Silently he crept back up the stairs and re-entered his room. He held up a finger to Lucca as he crossed the room to the open window. Crono sat with his legs out the window and swung over to grab the lattice he had climbed only fifteen minutes ago. As quickly and quietly as he could, he shimmied down to the ground, peeked into the kitchen to make sure they were still at the table, and then darted around the house to where he was practicing before.

_"Good it's here."_ He thought upon seeing the white piece of fabric that was caught in a bush. He ran over and untangled it from the limbs, tied it around his head and made his way back to the window. He made one final peek into the kitchen, but something they were saying caught his attention. Even though every fiber of his being was telling him to just get upstairs before he got caught; he waited and listened in. Taban looked very depressed and seemed to lack the smile that normally was plastered on his face. Crono wondered how he missed the change when he saw him earlier.

"Lara is coping," Taban said, "but to say that she is depressed is an understatement. I'm trying to not blame myself. Lucca won't say, but I know that she feels more responsible for the whole mess than any of us. I made the damned machine, but I don't want Lucca to get the idea that it is okay to blame herself. I'm hoping that if she thinks I don't blame myself, then maybe she won't feel so bad about not being able to shut it off." 

"I'm sorry Taban, I know this must be hard on you guys, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Gina and myself would be more than pleased to help out any way we can."

Crono decided that he had heard enough. His thoughts were a mess as he started to scale the wall. _"I wonder what happened to Lucca's mom. What could have happened that she would blame herself for?"_ He figured that whatever happened, Lucca would tell him when she was ready. It must have been really big and if she wasn't going to tell him, pushing her would just upset her. _"Man, when did I get so good at understanding emotions? I'm only six! Some of her intelligence must be rubbing off on me."_ He wondered if that was a good thing or not.

Crawling his way back into the room he saw that Lucca had finished unpacking and was sitting on his bed waiting for him to return. Crono tried to hide all sign of worry from his face and acted as natural as possible. The last thing that he wanted to do was make her think that he already knew something was up.

She rose from the bed and helped him through the window, "I see that you found it alright. What happened?"

"It got stuck on a bush. Probably happened when I hid my sword." 

Lucca was the only person, beside himself, that knew he had a training sword as well as his dismal failure learning the basic moves. He felt that she was the only one he could trust with such important information. _"Hopefully she feels the same and will tell me what happened."_ He added to himself.

"How is your training going? Are you a master of the wooden sword yet?"

Crono looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Going that well is it. They say that dirt is actually good for you. I'm not sure about that, but I read it somewhere so it could be true."

The door opened, interrupting any smart reply he had. Michael stood in the doorway, "Are you two ready to go? Lucca, your dad's leaving, so if you want to say goodbye, now would be the time." Lucca hurriedly moved down the stairs to see her father.

"Well. All set?" Crono nodded his head and followed his father outside.

Lucca was waiting for them in the front yard and Taban was halfway down the street. Michael watched him for moment before turning to the two children "Come on you two, let's get moving." The early morning sun fully illuminated the city of Truce as the three walked to the center of town.


	5. Ebb and Flow

Chapter 5   
  


Ebb and Flow   
  


He sat shrouded by leaves, hidden from view, boredom causing his concentration to waver as various unbidden thoughts brought themselves to his attention. Despite his growing unrest, he was very pleased with his current situation. Crono had managed to find a wonderful hiding spot in a mid-sized oak tree. It was tall enough to keep him out of sight, but gave him a clear view of his surroundings. There was no way that anyone was going to be sneaking up on him this time. It was a slightly underhanded tactic, but he wanted this over with soon. His father was about to go away on another trip to Medina, and besides, he needed to get Lucca out of her house and to Truce Canyon. He'd drag her by her ankles if he had to.   
  


Ever since the accident she had kept her self holed up in her room tinkering with some odd gadget or another. She had told Crono about it two weeks after Lara got out of the hospital. It took her almost a year to come to terms with herself before she told him about her plans to understand all of the machinery so that another accident didn't happen. He knew that for her health she needed to get out, but Taban hadn't taken her on a nature walk in ages. He was too busy doing something with a new invention, a telepod, if he remembered correctly. One of those walks in the forest that she used to like so much would probably do wonders for her.   
  


Since her mom had become crippled four years ago, he saw Lucca on nearly a daily basis. Gina had stepped in to help the family and started schooling Crono and Lucca. At the beginning when his mother told Crono that Lucca was going to be learning along side him, he was surprised, but happy. Who wouldn't be thrilled? His best friend would be staying with them every other week. Taban helped his father add a spare guest room to the house for Lucca. It was easier for her to stay the week than to cart all of her books and such from their distant house to the opposite side of Truce.   
  


This was one of their 'off' weeks, Lucca was at her place helping her father and Crono had spent the time sneaking around, weight training, or having more knowledge of a fighting form stuffed into his head. His mind switched gears as he thought back to how he ended up stuck in a tree waiting to surprise his father.   
  


_"The first rule of swordsmanship is to never let your opponent see what your next move is going to be. If you don't have control over your body language, it's as good as giving your adversary a play-by-play announcement."_ Crono replayed his dad's speech in his head, still a little confused as to how sneaking around and surprising him was supposed to teach his body how to hide his thoughts.   
  


For the past six months his father had been giving him a basic boot camp training of sorts. He had spent the first three years learning about the different kinds of weapons, fighting styles, and maneuvers. Now that the textbook section was out of the way, he had moved to physical development. His father had told him that before he could be trusted with a blade, he would have to develop his muscles, stamina, and discipline. Although the work was hard, Crono had to admit that he hadn't felt in such great shape before. The start of mildly bulging muscles in his chest and arms were not any source of complaint. As his hormones caught up with him, he realized that many girls would find that attractive. He wondered what Lucca thought of him whenever she saw him.   
  


_"Probably nothing,"_ He thought. _"She sees me everyday and probably hasn't noticed."_ The though sobered him slightly. Despite his attempts at controlling himself, he had to admit that he was rather attracted to her.   
  


Crono managed to get his inner self quieted down and focused on the oncoming task "Come on dad, get trapped already." He hissed through his teeth.   
  


Any moment now his father was going to come into view and Crono would have him. His muscles tensed up with anticipation while his forehead developed a mild wetness. Every snapping twig, rustling leaf, and bird tweet was amplified as he sat in silent observation, waiting for his moment to strike.   
  


"Snap. Rustle. Clink..." He mentally recorded every sound and placed its position accurately.

_"Wait a second...Clink? That's not a normal sound, and there it is again! I know that sound, who would be having a swordfight out here? Okay, kind of a stupid question considering what I'm doing right now, but..."_ Crono turned his head in the direction of the noise and studied it further. _"That's toward the castle, but there's no way that I could hear the training grounds from here."_   
  


He quickly made up his mind and moved to check it out. Abandoning his post, he deftly leapt to a shorter tree next to him and shimmied down to the ground. It took only a few minutes to narrow his search. Up ahead he was able to hear grunts and the occasional clink of a sword. He realized that something didn't sound right and he quickened his pace to a silent jog. He was soon able to see the scene safely from the backside of a thick tree.   
  


A young man holding a short sword and clothed in a blue uniform with a light armored vest stood on a beaten path. He faced off with what looked like two small green children. Crono recognized the man as a soldier from the castle. He assumed that the man was probably making rounds and encountered the children. The green kids were new, but judging from what he had heard it was probably an imp. They weren't known to be very powerful but they were an annoyance; the problem was that they tended to travel in groups and gang up on you. Why imps were in Guardia Forest, he didn't know. Normally everything was peaceful here.   
  


Crono spotted four other imps lying lifeless on the ground, lacerations across their chest and arms told how they had met their fate. He studied the soldier. His movements were slow; his breath was heavy, ragged, and quick. The sword drooped in his hand, which was barely able to hang onto the hilt. Gashes in his vest leaked blood onto the ground at his feet and pooled with the rivulets from the four bodies around him. Although the wounds weren't mortal, they had weakened him and put him at a severe disadvantage.   
  


Crono wagered a guess that the imps had gotten in a fair amount of hits on him before they fell. He racked his brain in an attempt to come up with some way to help the poor guy, but he needed a weapon, something that was lacking at the moment. Unsatisfied with his inability, Crono pounded his fist into the ground and swore under his breath. With no other viable option, he was forced to watch the scene unfold.   
  


One of the imps had shuffled itself to the side, making a triangle shape with each being at a point. There was no way for the soldier to block an attack from both imps at once, in a last desperate attempt, he lunged for the imp positioned in front of him. The imp sidestepped the weak attempt while the one behind jumped onto his back and bit him on the left shoulder causing his reflexes to bring his right arm up to knock the imp off while the pain caused him to lose his grip on the sword completely. As the first imp took a bite out of his leg, the sword flew across the path and landed just in front of Crono.   
  


Crono remained behind the tree and stared at the red tinged metal lying in front of him. Fear shook him from head to toe as a fleeting thought of charging into the fray occurred to him. These imps had managed to almost kill a trained soldier and he didn't want to imagine what they would do to a ten-year-old kid. He heard a muffled scream and looked up to see the soldier on the ground; both imps were biting and kicking him mercilessly. Crono didn't think, he knew what he had to do.   
  


Coiling himself up, he launched from behind the tree and ran towards the fallen man, picking up the sword as he passed it. The imps, so intent on mauling the now defenseless man, didn't see Crono running at full speed with the sword raised above his head until it was too late. With a quick flash of steel, Crono brought the sword down and swung to the right; tearing into the vein in its neck and throwing it to the side. He let the momentum of the swing turn him around and leveled the sword. As his body completed the pirouette the now horizontal blade forced its way into the neck of the other imp as it stood up. The somewhat weakened swing stopped as it made contact with the imp's spine, preventing a full beheading. The imp grasped hopelessly at the protruding metal and fell off the soldier as it tried to remove the source of its pain. It soon gave it's last gasp and fell silent as Crono just stood in horror and watched. He slowly realized that he had killed another living thing. Crono stared at the ground but didn't see anything.   
  


A muffled gurgling sound brought Crono back to his senses and he turned his attention to the injured man. He kneeled down and looked at the extent of his injuries. Most were scratches and bite marks on his face and arms. There was a large amount of bleeding from numerous wounds on his chest, but they didn't seem to be very deep. The worst seemed to be a rather large tooth shaped gash on his neck.   
  


Crono thought quickly and took off his over shirt and tied it around the man's neck in an attempt to curb the bleeding. "This won't work very well since I can't tie it tightly, but it may help. Do you think you can walk if I help you?"   
  


The soldier made a feeble nod and answered in a raspy whisper, "I, I t-think so."   
  


With as much strength as he could muster, Crono helped him off the ground. Unable to lift the larger man's weight, he stood still and let him use Crono to pull himself up. With most of his weight on Crono, they trudged off towards the castle, the soldier using him as a walker as Crono half held, half dragged the man behind him.   
  


Twenty minutes later they had arrived at the castle door. Crono shifted his balance and wearily knocked on a closed view window set in the large wooden door. A moment later the window slid open to reveal two eyes and a nose.   
  


The eyes scowled at him before asking, "What d'ya want, kid? There's no tresspassin' on these grounds."   
  


He resisted the overwhelming urge to punch this rude jerk in the face. Obviously he wasn't very observant and had failed to notice the person behind him, "I found a soldier in the forest. He's been attacked an' is in bad shape. I brought him here for help." He managed in a slightly breathless voice.  
  


The eyes looked over Crono's shoulder and widened considerably. They disappeared and some shouting could be heard behind the doors. They opened and two other guards came out to help Crono bring him in. Crono, thinking his job was done, turned to leave but was held back by the person he had saved. The soldier had a look of utter terror on his face and his white knuckled fingers refused to let go of Crono's arm. The guards didn't notice at first and started to drag them both towards the infirmary.   
  


A quick yelp of, "Let me go!" drew their attention to Crono's predicament. They tried to remove the deathly grip on Crono's wrist

"Please, don't leave me." It was barely more than a whisper but Crono was able to hear it. How could he refuse him and leave?   
  


"I'll go with him."   
  


Both guards stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"   
  


Crono took a second to think how to respond. "It was a pretty bad attack and he doesn't know what's going on. I doubt he knows where he is. I'll go with him. And it'll be faster than trying to get him off me."   
  


The guard looked into Crono's eyes and made a side glace to his comrade. They both nodded their heads.   
  


"Right. This way."   
  


They went down a hall to the left that ended at a staircase. Crono looked around as they walked; he would have been in awe if the circumstances were better. A tour of the castle would have been nice, but now was not the time for such thoughts. He silently wondered where his dad was and what he was going to tell him. He hated to think of his father worrying about him if he couldn't locate him.   
  


The quartet walked down the dark-stone staircase into the knight's quarters. Although it was called the knight's quarters, it housed all of the castle military, the infirmary, and the war room. They went through a doorway on the right that lead to the medial section.  
  


"Hey! Can we get some help in here?" One of the guards bellowed.   
  


An attractive woman in her mid twenties came out of a room on the right and took in the scene. If it weren't for the severely injured person in the middle, she would have found the scene of two guards surrounding a soldier clinging onto a ten-year-old rather funny. "What happened here?"   
  


The two guards looked at each other. It dawned on them that they didn't have a clue as to what happened. They both looked down at the boy, it was making Crono nervous.   
  


"He was attacked by six imps. I think they were imps. They looked like green kids." His voice was meek, but easily audible. Everyone continued to stare at him for a moment before rushing into action.   
  


One guard told the other to fetch someone called Nathan. The nurse and the first guard brought the man into a very clean room with a few beds. They, with Crono in tow, lay the soldier in a bed as the nurse sedated him and started to look after his wounds.   
  


While he waited for the sedative to take effect, Crono killed time by looking around the room. All four walls, the ceiling, and the floor were made of a dark-grey stone. Purple was a dominant theme. Purple and gold tapestries hung from the walls; even the beds had purple and gold covers. A quickly moving flick of blonde hair drew his attention to the first room. A large oak table was visible through the doorway he had just walked through.

Within a few minutes the soldier's body slipped into unconsciousness, his grip on Crono's wrist grew weak enough to wrest himself from his grasp.   
  


Crono, relieved that this event was over, turned around and found a rather tall man's stomach. He looked up at him and saw the man give him a warm smile and noticed the second guard standing next to him.   
  


"I assume this is the child you were referring to, William." Crono was getting unnerved; this guy wasn't taking his eyes off of him.   
  


The guard next to him spoke up, "Yep. He brought Charles in from the forest."   
  


He kneeled down to Crono's level. In a smooth and reassuring voice as possible he spoke, "Hello. My name is Nathan. I'm the head of the castle guard. What's your name?"   
  


Crono was a little dumbfounded. _"Am I in trouble for something? Oh, no, they probably think that I did this to him!"_   
  


Seeing the fear in the child's eyes, Nathan bid him to a seat in the corner. "Don't worry, you aren't in any trouble. I just want to know what happened out there." He gave a sigh as he took his seat across from Crono. "Charles was a very good friend of mine. I would like to know what did this to him."

Seeing that Crono didn't calm down he tried again, "Can we get you anything, a drink, maybe? Would you like me to find your parents and have them here with you?"   
  


Crono shook his head no and stayed rooted to the spot. His eyes widened in fear as he realized that his father was still out there, and there could be more of those...things. "I'm Crono." He let out in a small voice. Urgently he added, "My dad was out there by himself too. I need to find him."   
  


Nathan reassured him, "Don't worry, I have men combing the forest. Anyone that they find they will bring back here. You can tell me which one is your dad and if you tell me where you live, I'll also send someone to bring your mom here."   
  


Crono thought for a second, unsure if he should trust this stranger before replying in one breath, "We live in Truce. My dad owns the sword shop so mom should be there."

Pleased to see that the kid was relaxing, he again beckoned to the chair and motioned for Crono to sit. "Nice to meet you Crono. Now, can you tell me what happened out there? The guard told me that you said something about him being attacked by six imps."   
  


Crono started to relate the whole story to Nathan. "I heard some strange noises in the forest, so I went to check them out--"

"What were you doing in Guardia Forest by yourself? Where was your father?" Nathan injected while leaning forward in his chair.

"He was teaching me sub...sub-viative tactics." Crono struggled with the word his father had said before using his own explanation. "He was teaching me how to sneak around."

"Your father was teaching you subversive tactics?" He threw himself back into his chair, put his hand to his forehead, and stared at Crono with a puzzled expression. It wasn't a question so much as a statement of wonder. Crono was after all a ten-year-old boy; much too young for such advanced training.

"All right." Nathan continued, "So you followed the noises. I assume they lead you to Charles?"

Crono nodded his head in affirmation before continuing. He had gotten to the point where the sword flew from Charles' hand before being interrupted by a few soldiers. They both looked at the soldier at the doorway who was speaking. "Sir! We found another one!"

Crono, not wanting to appear rude, stared forward at the far wall as the soldiers talked. He saw people running across the doorway in the room behind the man Nathan was talking to.   
  


"Another soldier's been attacked?" Nathan started.   
  


"No sir, this one's a civilian. He's in bad shape Sir and it doesn't look promising, the nurse isn't holding out much hope. He managed to say that his son was in the forest with him. So I've got men looking for the kid now."   
  


Crono's head snapped to attention at the last words spoken.

Nathan glared at the man and looked back towards Crono. He didn't need to say it, Crono already knew who the victim was. 


End file.
